Stanley Aronson, co-founder of the Alpert Medical School, died Jan. 28 at the age of 92, leaving behind a legacy of innovations and the admiration of countless colleagues and students.
After conducting groundbreaking research on the rare genetic disorder Tay-Sachs disease, Aronson co-founded the Med School in 1972 and served as its dean until 1981.
“He created a medical school that was very unlike any other med school because of the values it established,” said Fred Schiffman, professor of humanistic medicine, adding that the school has “scientific rigor with a heart and soul.”
After leaving his post as dean, Aronson turned his focus toward establishing the first hospice program in Rhode Island, which he continued to advise until his death.
“His knowledge base was so wide-ranging,” said Terrie Wetle, dean of the School of Public Health, who first met Aronson and his wife Gale when Wetle came to Providence in 2000. “Sitting with him was like having a human Google,” she said.
Wetle got to know Aronson more when her husband Richard Besdine, professor of geriatric medicine, served as the interim dean of the Med School from 2002 to 2005.
“I found him to be the most knowledgeable on the largest number of things of any person I’ve ever encountered in my life,” Besdine said.
Aronson was also a prolific journalist, publishing more than 1,000 columns in the Providence Journal. His last column was published Jan. 26, just two days before his death. “I’ll miss reading his column in the newspaper, which I always enjoyed,” Wetle said.
Aronson’s colleagues and friends noted that despite his many achievements, he remained a humble scholar, friend and mentor.
“This is not a man who put his accomplishments on his sleeve,” said Jack Elias, dean of medical and biological sciences.
When Elias assumed Aronson’s former position in September 2013, Aronson “immediately took me in like a son,” Elias said. “As the new dean of the Medical School, I think he saw me as one of the people who would continue to help the program grow.”
“The thing that I loved about him was his extraordinary valuing and respect to other people,” Besdine said.
Aronson kept in contact with many med students whom he knew during his tenure as dean.
There is an “amazing number of people, who he trained (and) who he is still in contact with, who adored the man,” Schiffman said.
Current and former med students frequented Aronson’s private residence, even during his last weeks, Besdine said. “Four days before he went into hospice care, he had half a dozen medical students at his home,” Besdine said.
“People thronged there to be in his presence,” he added. “He was an astounding man.”
